About 80 people, many of whom are directly involved in the fight against food insecurity in Polk County attended the town hall. A number of attendees shared their questions and comments with us during the Q&A portion of the show.

Many guests generously donated food at the Florida Matters town hall, which was passed on to local charities.

Originally published on April 19, 2017 11:48 am

Polk County is a place of so many contradictions. It's the home of beautiful lakes, charming downtowns and historic landmarks. But this birthplace of several of Florida's governors, was also named by one recent study as having the country's second largest percentage of people struggling to avoid hunger.

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Click here to listen to highlights from the Florida Matters town hall on food insecurity in Polk County, hosted April 17, 2017 at Florida Southern College's Annie Pfeiffer Chapel in Lakeland.

We hosted a town hall on this issue on April 17 at Florida Southern College’s Annie Pfeiffer Chapel. Florida Matters host Robin Sussingham talked to people who are on the front lines of this fight against hunger and deprivation about what they've learned, and we also held a Q&A with our audience of about 80 people.

This week on Florida Matters, we listen to highlights from our town hall on food insecurity in Polk County.

Our panelists include:

Patricia Strickland, Executive Director of KidsPACK, which provides food for students to take home on the weekends.

Kara Dethlefsen lined up early on a recent morning for the food pantry at the Camp Pendleton Marine Base near San Diego. She and her husband, both active-duty Marines, took turns holding their 4-month-old daughter.

"We most like to get the avocados, lemons, some vegetables to cook up," says Dethlefsen, 27, who first heard about the pantry from an on-base nurse after giving birth.